Florida names 5 Growers of Medical Marijuana

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on November 24, 2015.

Medical Marijuana is all set to become a reality in Florida, as the state has selected 5 nurseries to grow and distribute a weak form of marijuana. The latest development came as a big relief to the thousands of residents of Florida, who qualify for medical marijuana under a 2014 state law.

The Department of Health in Florida has named five nurseries that will be allowed to grow noneuphoric marijuana for medical purposes. Each nursery will cover a region of the state. Patients from South Florida will get their pot from Costa Farms of Goulds, an area west of Cutler Bay in southern Miami-Dade County.

Knox Nursery in Winter Garden for Central Florida, Chestnut Hill Tree Farm in Alachua for the Northeast region, Hackney Nursery in Greensboro for the Northwest region, Alpha Foliage in Homestead for the Southwest region, and Costa Farms of Goulds for the South region are the five nurseries selected for growing medical marijuana.

Under the 2014 law, patients were supposed to be able to obtain medical marijuana by the beginning of 2015. But, red-tapism and lawsuits caused the delay. The Health Department had initially proposed a lottery system to choose growers, but later, they had to backtrack following the lawsuit filed by Costa Farms, which forced a change in the rules.

As per the law on marijuana farming, the marijuana strains must contain 10 percent or more cannabidiol (CBD), a substance that may help alleviate seizures. It also requires the strains to possess 0.8 percent or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in marijuana that produces a high.

Smoking marijuana will remain illegal even for medical marijuana patients, who will have to go for oil, vaps or other non-smokeable ways.